Health News Roundup: COVID-19 cluster in Sydney; severe strain on Tokyo hospitals and more

In the health sector today, residents of Australia's largest city Sydney have been asked to stay at home after a COVID-19 cluster was detected while Japanese capital of Tokyo raised alert level to highest of four stages amid a spike in cases. Watch the video below for top health stories of December 17 from all across the world.

Devdiscourse brings you the top health news stories of the day from all across the world.

U.S. hospital demand for Lilly, Regeneron COVID-19 antibody drugs 'disappointing'

U.S. hospitals have been slow to embrace COVID-19 antibody drugs from Eli Lilly and Co and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc that have been authorized to reduce the risk of hospitalization, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. Demand for the therapies, which are given as a one-time intravenous infusion, has been "disappointing," and hospitals should be using them more, Operation Warp Speed chief advisor Dr. Moncef Slaoui said on a conference call. The government program is distributing and allocating drugs.

Alaskan health worker stable after allergic reaction to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine

An Alaskan health worker who had a serious allergic reaction after getting Pfizer Inc's coronavirus vaccine was now stable, public health authorities said on Wednesday. The adverse reaction in the person, minutes after taking the Pfizer shot on Tuesday, was similar to two cases in Britain.

Some vaccine doses kept too cold, Pfizer having manufacturing issues, U.S. officials say

The first days of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine rollout have seen unexpected hitches including some vaccines being stored at excessively cold temperatures and Pfizer reporting potential challenges in its vaccine production, U.S. officials said on a Wednesday press call. At least two trays of COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered in California needed to be replaced after their storage temperatures dipped below minus 80 Celsius (minus 112 Fahrenheit), U.S. Army General Gustave Perna said on the call. Pfizer's vaccines, made with partner BioNTech SE, are supposed to be kept at around minus 70C.

IDB offers $1 billion to help Latin America, Caribbean with COVID-19 vaccinations

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said on Wednesday said it would mobilize $1 billion to help countries in Latin America and the Caribbean acquire and distribute COVID-19 vaccines, adding to some $1.2 billion already committed in 2020. Latin America's main development lender said it would also continue to provide funding for other public-health measures, such as more effective testing and tracing, and better clinical management of COVID-19 patients.

WHO says Beijing welcomes COVID-19 investigators trip to China

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that China had welcomed an international team of investigators into COVID-19 expected to travel to the country in early January.

Tokyo says COVID-19 strain on hospitals severe, raises alert to highest

The Japanese capital of Tokyo said on Thursday the strain on its medical system from the COVID-19 pandemic was severe, raising its alert level to the highest of four stages as the number of cases spiked to a record daily high of 822. The metropolitan government said the number of coronavirus cases hit 822 on Thursday, surpassing the previous record of 678 reached a day earlier.

Sydney residents told to stay home after COVID-19 cluster grows

Australia on Thursday scrambled to trace the source of new COVID-19 cases after a cluster was detected in the largest city of Sydney, where authorities urged hundreds of thousands of people to stay home and set up emergency testing centers. Australia has been cautiously opening its internal borders and easing social distancing curbs in recent weeks, due to low or no local cases in most of the eight states and territories.